- Claus Zundel
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Claus Zundel Claus Zundel (AKA “The Brave”) is a German composer, songwriter, producer and pianist. He has created several worldwide successful musical projects, most notable - Sacred Spirit and B-Tribe (sold 20 mln. copies combined), as well as more Indie projects such as "Moroccan Spirit", "Classical Spirit", "Divine Works", Ancient Spirit and his latest project "Tango Jointz". After being a successful producer in the 1980s with a German artist named Hubert Kah, Zundel produced several pop albums under Circa Records U.K between 1988 and 1992 for an artist known as Sydney Youngblood.[1] The most successful hit was If Only I Could, which entered the top 3 in the charts of most European countries, including the UK. Zundel signed to the new label Circa Records run by Ashley Newton and Ray Cooper, later responsible for the huge success of the Spice Girls before they became executives of Virgin USA. All of the Youngblood records were distributed under Virgin Records U.K. The first album feeling free included several hit singles that reached gold status in various countries throughout Europe. The biggest successes were the hit singles "if only i could" and "sit and wait". The success of the Youngblood project opened the door for Zundel into the international music world.[2]
His music style is usually called as "The Brave Sound" - as it considers a large number of different music styles all mixed in his special way. He often collaborates with different musicians and singers from different parts of the world and creates "The Brave Sound" projects with them.
Contents
Biography
The native of Heidelberg concentrated on R&B music in the 80's, producing three tracks for Chaka Khan (who had moved to Germany) and several popular European artists in the 80's. Tired of the fast pace, he moved to Ibiza, Spain in late 80's.
His co-producers were Ralf Hamm und Markus Staab who joined him in 1988. In 1990, they recorded as BSOG with featured vocals by Elaine Hudson. They released a single Bow Wow Wow, with additional tracks Wam Bam and Cooler Moments Of Vivaldi.
Overtaken by flamenco, Zundel amassed 250 hours of these types of performances. Soon after he created his first own successful musical project - B-Tribe ("Barcelona Tribe of Soulsters"). With first album "Fiest Fatal !", B-Tribe hit charts all over the world. Five more albums followed up to date with total sales of over 5 million copies.
At the same time, in 1995 Zundel creates his second multi-million selling project - Sacred Spirit. The album "Chants and Dances of Native Americans received multi-platinum awards from RIAA and sold 7 mil. In 2001, with "More Chants and Dances of Native Americans" album he got a Grammy award nomination for Best New Age Album.
Other related projects include Divine Works (1996) (which became a notable dance hit with "Ancient Person of My Heart" single), Ancient Spirit (1997) and One Little Creature. Some of these are now getting difficult to obtain. However, a number of tracks from the Divine Works album are on the newer Classical Spirit album (2003) - a collection of 5 famous classical pieces remixed by Claus, as well as 5 his own compositions. Moroccan Spirit album (a "The Brave" mix of Moroccan native songs, recorded by Zundel himself during his 5 month trip to Morocco) was released in 2002 and was a commercial success. The Brave also produced the Rose Moore album Spirit Of Silence in 2002. In February 2007 a new Zundel produced album was released worldwide - "Palermo Nuevo" under a project name "Tango Jointz". Named after the cosmopolitan cultural and musical hotspot in Buenos Aires, this album is a collection of musical offerings combining traditional tango sounds and Latin rhythms with electronic beats.
Discography
Albums produced/written [3]
- Sydney Youngblood - Just the Way it Is 1993 [4]
- B-Tribe - Fiesta Fatal (Warner/Atlantic) 1994
- Sacred Spirit - Chants And Dances Of The Native Americans (Virgin) 1995
- B-Tribe - Suave Suave (Atlantic) 1995
- Ancient Spirit (1997)
- Sacred Spirit - Culture Clash (Virgin) 1997, re-released as Indigo Spirit in 2000 on Higher Octave Music
- Divine Works - Soundtrack for the New Millennium (Virgin) 1997
- Divine Works - Ancient Person Of My Heart (Virgin) 1997 (CD, Maxi-Single and as 12" vinyl)
- B-Tribe - Sensual Sensual (Atlantic) 1998
- One Little Creature - Music of Fading Cultures - Pieces of Time (Virgin/Phantom) 1998
- Hubert Kah - Rosemarie 1999 [5]
- Sacred Spirit - More Chants And Dances Of The Native Americans (Higher Octave/Virgin) 2000
- Ancient Spirits for a New Age - 5 CD Box Set
- B-Tribe - Spiritual Spiritual (Higher Octave) 2001
- Moroccan Spirit - Morroccan Spirit (Higher Octave) 2002
- Rose Moore - Spirit of Silence 2002
- Classical Spirit - Classical Spirit (Higher Octave) 2003
- B-Tribe - 5 (Higher Octave) 2003
- Sacred Spirit - Jazzy Chill Out (Higher Octave) 2003
- Sacred Spirit - Bluesy Chill Out (Higher Octave) 2003
- Tango Joitz - Palermo Nuevo (La Escondida) 2007
- Macao Cafe -presents b-tribe 6 (macaocafemusic)2007
- Holophone presents B-TRIBE 6 (Holophone) 2008
Singles produced/written
- Raw Pulse - No Brothershit (Based On Take Five) 1994 [6]
- B-Tribe - Fatal Fatal
- B-Tribe - Nanita
- B-Tribe - Que Mala Vida
References
- ^ "Sydney Youngblood". AllMusic. 2011. http://www.allmusic.com/album/sydney-youngblood-r77872.
- ^ "Tango Jointz". Public Radio International. March 5, 2007. http://www.pri.org/theworld/?q=node/8468.
- ^ "Discography". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Claus+Zundel#p=1&t=Credits_All.
- ^ "Youngblood". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/Sydney-Youngblood-Just-The-Way-It-Is/release/995905.
- ^ "Hubert Kah". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/Hubert-Kah-Rosemarie/release/1251571.
- ^ "Raw Pulse". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/Raw-Pulse-No-Brothershit-Based-On-Take-Five/release/1946979.
External links
- http://www.sacredspirit.de/ [ German fan website ]
- http://www.b-tribe.de/ [ German fan website ]
Categories:- Living people
- German pianists
- German record producers
- German trance musicians
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